Data security and privacy is an issue of growing importance to computer users across nearly every industry. Many companies, governmental agencies, enterprises, and users of computers, generally, try to implement information technology (“IT”) security and privacy policies in order to protect their data. For example, such policies may require that a user provide a username and password in order to access the enterprise's computer systems. Moreover, such policies may require that employees never leave their computers unattended and logged in. Unfortunately, many computer users may fail to follow such policies for a variety of reasons, including the possibility of simply forgetting to take the actions to lock the computer that those policies require.
Further, some policies may require that the user maintain a physical device, such as a token generator, that additionally requires the user to input a unique device-generated code each time they log into the system to further enhance security. While helpful, such protections obviously require that the user have such physical device with them when they intend to access the protected computer systems, and simple human nature can invariably lead to a user's inadvertent loss or temporary misplacement of such physical device, impeding their ability to perform their assigned tasks.
Prior efforts have been made to provide wireless access to computing systems using a wireless connection between a user's cell phone and software on the computing system. However, such systems have been found to significantly degrade battery life of the phone, requiring constant recharging if the security device is to be implemented, which detracts from wide acceptance of such methods.
Thus, there remains a need in the art for systems and methods that are effective in protecting against unauthorized access to computer systems, but that do so in a way that minimizes the required actions of the user and that can provide some protection against many person's at least occasional tendency to forget or misplace items that might be necessary to access such computer systems. It would also be advantageous for such functions to be embodied in a standalone, low energy usage device that is not dependent upon a power source that must be kept available for other tasks, such as a user's portable cell phone. It would further be advantageous, and would assist user adaptation of such a system, if the system is designed to have a minimal level of erroneous logging-off and logging-on incidents, as well as a high level of and rapid responsivity, and to properly manage the trade-off between these goals and an acceptable battery life.